Thanks to Buffy Andrews for the invitation to write a guest post for her blog. I blogged with my advice that journalists should train themselves. I’m a big believer in the value of training for a news organization, and I am pleased that the Journal Register Co. is placing high importance on training as we pursue a Digital First strategy. But I say journalists should also train themselves, regardless of whether our bosses are providing training opportunities:
The benefits of teaching yourself go beyond the skill you just learned: You underscore your own responsibility for your professional growth; you are less intimidated the next time you encounter a new tool or technique you know you should learn; lessons stick better when you learn by doing.
You can read the rest over at Buffy’s World, but I’ll make one more point here: I was pleased to see Buffy reach out to start working with me before our bosses work out details of our new relationship. Buffy is an editor and social media coordinator at the York Daily Record, a news organization owned by MediaNews Group. Last month JRC and MediaNews reached agreement for a new JRC subsidiary, Digital First Media, to manage MediaNews. Bosses are working out exactly what that means, but Buffy could see that it meant that we’re colleagues now. She didn’t need to see the new org chart to send me a Twitter direct message, inviting me to write a guest post.
I admired the initiative and look forward to working with her and other MediaNews colleagues.
Wow! Thanks Steve. And here I thought I was just being a pest. (smiles)
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In our profession, being a pest is a job skill, right?
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[…] great points from Steve Buttry on why journalists need to take over their own professional training rather than wait for their employers to do it for them. The benefits of teaching yourself go beyond […]
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So true. Best training I have had was working in the field learning from my mistakes, my mentors, fellow journalists, and coworkers.
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